Hero Lab v4.2e Beta Testing Thread

[Colen]

This thread is for users in the Hero Lab beta to post their experiences. If you've had problems with the Hero Lab beta, or if everything has gone well, please let us know by posting here!

Want to join the beta? You can sign up on our web site:

http://www.wolflair.com/blog/2013/12/13/help-us-beta-test-hero-lab/

Please keep this thread for posts regarding the Hero Lab 4.2e beta only. If you have questions, you can find out more at the web site above. The beta is currently planned to run until December 25th.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Silveras]

The link for the Windows installer in the email doesn't seem to be valid. There's no indication of the type.. is it a zip, an exe, or something else?

Edit: I took a chance and added .exe to the file name. That worked.

 

[Colen]

The link for the Windows installer in the email doesn't seem to be valid. There's no indication of the type.. is it a zip, an exe, or something else?

Edit: I took a chance and added .exe to the file name. That worked.

Are you doing a right click -> save as? If so, just clicking the link to download the file should give you the installer with the right extension.

 

[Silveras]

Using IE 11, when clicking on the link the choices are: Open, Save, and Cancel. Save is a button with 3 sub-choices.. Save, Save As, and Save and Open.

I originally used Save As to put the installer on the desktop while I made some backups. When I double-clicked that, Windows prompted me to select a program to use to open the file.

Clicking "Open" downloads the file and produces the same prompt.

Files recognized as executable files give a "Run" option instead of "Open".

 

[Colen]

Ah - I guess when you hit "save as", it must have saved it without the file extension then?

 

[Silveras]

I did not see a file extension, or add one, the first time when I used "Save As".
However, even selecting "Open" does not run it.
The last try, I did a "Save As" and added the ".exe" extension. THAT worked.

The RealmWorks beta installers come through with a .exe extension. I get the "Run" option instead of "Open", and I have been able to install those directly with no issues. In this case, it seems this installer is not being recognized as an exe.

 

[drakahn99]

where do you want us to submit feedback at?

 

[Asandir]

Installed no issues. Added Pathfinder files no issues. Will start some additional testing with portfolios and custom data files in a bit.

 

[drakahn99]

i don't see the new tab system in the editor, is there something ive done wrong possibly?

 

[Colen]

i don't see the new tab system in the editor, is there something ive done wrong possibly?

The new tabs in the editor are currently only supported in Pathfinder - you'll need to download and import the special Pathfinder data files linked in the email / web page to access them.

This thread is the place to submit feedback.

 

[ShadowChemosh]

This thread is the place to submit feedback.

I did play around with some .por files yesterday and they did indeed decrase the file size by about 20%. I even used an older version of HL to open the files without issues after I saved them in the Beta version.

I also used the editor to work on some Mythic Spell adjustments last night and everything seemed to work like normal. So far, need more testing, but the layout of the new tabs seem to make sense and actually easier to work with. It was getting really crazy the number of tabs in Pathfinder. So seeing less tabs at once actually makes it easier so far to find what I want.

I have more editor stuff to do this weekend so will let you know if I find anything....

 

[Colen]

I did play around with some .por files yesterday and they did indeed decrase the file size by about 20%. I even used an older version of HL to open the files without issues after I saved them in the Beta version.

I also used the editor to work on some Mythic Spell adjustments last night and everything seemed to work like normal. So far, need more testing, but the layout of the new tabs seem to make sense and actually easier to work with. It was getting really crazy the number of tabs in Pathfinder. So seeing less tabs at once actually makes it easier so far to find what I want.

I have more editor stuff to do this weekend so will let you know if I find anything....

Thanks Tim! The #1 issue we're interested in is if anyone has problems loading files saved by the new version of Hero Lab, so please let us know ASAP if you run into any problems with that, or anything else about the beta.

 

[drakahn99]

The new tabs in the editor are currently only supported in Pathfinder - you'll need to download and import the special Pathfinder data files linked in the email / web page to access them.

This thread is the place to submit feedback.

thanks, dont know how i missed it, seems to work fine here,

2 things come to mind when using the editor,

when selecting a new category tab, would be to have it so it goes to the first tab that has something in it similar to when you open a new file.

also to change the color of tabs that have items in them to another color other than grey, (blue maybe) and another color for when the file needs to be saved rather than just the text on the tab. or put in an option on the tools menu that would allow the user to select the color of the tabs shown, this would be a huge feature for color people that have difficulty seeing the default color schemes.

pathfinder specifically:

can you add in an option on the spells editor that will boot strap an adjustment, many spells need an adjustment. and would be nice to have an option that will automatically add the adjustment to the character (unactivated) for that specific spell when the character knows it. rather than having to go find it each time the player wants to add it to the character.

add a category tab for spells, (spell, domain, spell school, and metamagic)

or user customized tabs and draging/droping of tabs to categories so that the user has some control over the workflow....

hopefully this function gets moved onto the character, so that after a certain number of tabs get shown on the character that categories come up or can be activated as an option, this is a minor annoyance for high level characters that start adding multiple classes and options such as mythic...


also not specific to this beta, but dragging and dropping copied text into the editor. this is a standard windows feature and not sure why herolab doesnt support this. this would be another huge enhancement for datafile authors....


also not specific to this beta, but some kind of theme editor that would allow the user to edit the default themes that would be easier on their eyes, personally i have issues with the themes that contain a lot of dark colors... i'm looking at you d20, shadow run and world of darkness systems....

 

[bodrin]

I've only just checked my emails and noticed the beta test notification.


I'm currently entering some data for a small project but that was started with 4.2d however I'll update to 4.2e and get testing.

Prepare for the bug reports.

 

[drakahn99]

after loading/saving all the portfolios for my characters a couple annoyances came up. but noting broken.

one character has something causing an error, it would be nice when an error comes up about something not working right to have the dialog give the option to go to said item that has a script error to help locate what exactly is causing said error. using older portfolios where things have since changed many times over its like finding a needle in a hay stack on what is causing the error.

when loading a portfolio that has missing sources when the errors pop up, give the option right away on the dialog to strip the missing sources, rather than needing to go through the menus, would be helpful. or a configure option within hero lab to do that automatically when loading a character. many times missing sources don't break the character and are from sources that are not used on the character any how at least that is how its worked out here.

also i would suggest an option somewhere that will go through and remove unused sources so for example by default i have it set by default to load a bunch of sources but this particular portfolio isn't using SSG base classes for example that it would be removed. not sure if it would lower the size of the portfolio. but would help to lower the amount of possible errors when using customized user entered user files from 3rd parties.

 

[ShadowChemosh]

My only thought right now for the Pathfinder tabs is that I would prefer that the Class and Races get separated into separate Group tabs. They really don't have any overlap as if I am doing a class I don't need race Things and vise verse.

I can see this being especially helpful for new users as all "Race" tabs are in one section and all Class tabs in another. Less clutter makes things easier to understand.

Their is less needs for this in other sections as a Feat is a single Thing same with spells and traits. Classes and Races have lots of Things that make up the whole.

 

[bodrin]

On the whole the program feels more responsive when loading portfolios, there haven't been any problems for me whilst using it.

I like the new "please wait while we search" window in the spellbook shows me that it's not just hung waiting.

Definitely an improvement in the Editor but please split the Race and Class tabs It's just not necessary to have them grouped together.

Merry christmas to everyone.

Bodrin!

 

[Colen]

after loading/saving all the portfolios for my characters a couple annoyances came up. but noting broken.

one character has something causing an error, it would be nice when an error comes up about something not working right to have the dialog give the option to go to said item that has a script error to help locate what exactly is causing said error. using older portfolios where things have since changed many times over its like finding a needle in a hay stack on what is causing the error.

when loading a portfolio that has missing sources when the errors pop up, give the option right away on the dialog to strip the missing sources, rather than needing to go through the menus, would be helpful. or a configure option within hero lab to do that automatically when loading a character. many times missing sources don't break the character and are from sources that are not used on the character any how at least that is how its worked out here.

also i would suggest an option somewhere that will go through and remove unused sources so for example by default i have it set by default to load a bunch of sources but this particular portfolio isn't using SSG base classes for example that it would be removed. not sure if it would lower the size of the portfolio. but would help to lower the amount of possible errors when using customized user entered user files from 3rd parties.

We're hoping to include better handling for loading files with errors in future - it's definitely not an experience we're happy with now. Unfortunately it's one of those things where making any changes requires a lot of reworking stuff internally, but we're taking some steps towards that with one of our current projects.

We'll split up the race and class tab in this week's release of the Pathfinder files. Thanks for the feedback, everyone! Please let me know ASAP if you run into any problems with the beta, as we're planning to release an updated version of Hero Lab to everyone on Thursday.

 

[OgrePuppy]

I created a character, saved it,opened it and had no issues.

I also opened old characters that I'd created several weeks ago...again, with no issues.

It is DEFINITELY opening the files more quickly.

Awesome, so far!

 

[ShadowChemosh]

Please let me know ASAP if you run into any problems with the beta, as we're planning to release an updated version of Hero Lab to everyone on Thursday.

I have not found anything yet. I used it during a game on Saturday night but I don't use the Tactical Consul but I used it open and save a bunch of .por files.

I also used the editor a bunch of times to make some small fixes to some packages and didn't find anything their. So far it looks good. Nice job Colen!!!!